Wicked or How I Rejoined the Civilized World

Sunday I went with a friend up into Seoul to see Wicked. It was my first time in at least three years going to see a musical or anything else shown in a real theater -- other than The Nutcracker two Christmas' ago -- and the first time I've seen Wicked. I've heard a lot about it, and for a very long time, but since it's never been showed near where I've lived, then I haven't had a chance to go see it. And while the tickets were a tad expensive, as Broadway or Off-Broadway tickets are wont to be, I jumped at the chance to get a good dose of sophistication and culture. I may be a nerd and a giggly fan girl and a military woman, but I'm also a woman who enjoys things like art museums, orchestral concerts, and musicals.

Going into Wicked, I wasn't sure if it would be in English or Korean. All the advertisements for it that I had seen on the TV showed clips from the original Broadway cast, and there was nothing I could find anywhere that gave me a clue, at least until we got to the theater and saw the posters of the actors, who were all Korean. Also beforehand, I didn't know anything about the story. I knew that it was supposed to be a prequel to the Wizard of Oz, and I knew it was from the Wicked Witch's perspective, but that was all I knew.

I'm not going to try to explain what it's about, because I tried to tell my mom about it, and I think it all came out wrong. So I'll just say it was amazing. The story was exactly the kind of story that I love to hear about, and the stage was phenomenal. I'm really not used to seeing stages like that. I usually can't afford $60+ tickets so I used to go to high school musicals and local theaters, and their stages wouldn't be able to even come close to everything the Charlotte Theater did for Wicked. And the costumes were beautiful and very colorful and really showed off the characters' personalities quite well. And the VOICES. Oh heavens the voices were just amazing. I don't normally like female singers, particularly Korean female singers, but the woman who played Elphaba -- the Wicked Witch -- had such a beautiful, full voice.

The only problem I had was the entire musical was in Korean, and I've said this before, my Korean isn't all that great. I understood enough to know what was going on, but there were some parts where I missed things and so didn't understand motivations and the like. And with no previous experience with the show, I had no frame for reference. But with that said, I did understand more than I had expected, which was a pleasant surprise.

There are a few more musicals I want to see that are either playing right now or will be playing in January and February. It will be expensive, but I've been craving sophistication -- especially surrounded by unsophisticated military men -- for so long that I think I can pull together enough money to pull it off. So in the next couple of months I'm going to go see S. Korea's production of Ghost, The Three Musketeers, and The Moon Embracing the Sun, which is based on a Korean drama which in turn is based on a Korean novel. And I loved the drama, and am trying to read the book, so of course I have to go see the musical!

Do you enjoy musicals and concerts? If so, what was the last one you went to? Tell me about it in the comments!

Thanks for reading!